1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to methods, combinations, apparatuses, systems, and articles of manufacture for making product recommendations. In one aspect, the invention may employ an artificial intelligence engine for providing beauty advice. In another aspect, the invention may relate to a simulation of selected beauty products or recommended beauty products on a image.
2. Description of Related Art
Although the invention, in its broadest sense, is not limited to any particular products, for purposes of explaining some inventive features and principles, the invention is described herein in connection with beauty products and accessories.
The selection of beauty products is often a function of personal characteristics of a wearer. These characteristics may include the wearer's lifestyle, color preferences, body chemistry, fashion preferences, and/or physical attributes. Thus, a lipstick shade that works well on a young, blond-haired, fair-skinned woman may not work well on a more mature, dark-haired, dark-skinned woman. Beauty professionals, be they located at beauty facilities, or retail establishments or other locations, are therefore often relied upon for assistance in beauty product selection. Of course, the ability to obtain helpful advice is both a function of a level of personal attention available and a skill level of the beauty professional offering the advice. For example, if a beauty counter in a retail establishment does not have sufficient staff to handle customer traffic or if the staff is improperly trained, the quality of advice may suffer.
In both brick and mortar and e-commerce environments, beauty product purchase decisions are often multi-tiered. That is, consumers may not only need help selecting a first product for purchase, but they often require assistance selecting one or more additional products that complement the first-selected product. For example, after a costumer selects a lipstick, she may desire lipliner and blush that complement the lipstick. The desire for complementary products may likely be a function not only of the chosen shade of the lipstick, but also of the lifestyle, preferences, and personal attributes of the wearer.
In many retail establishments, sales persons are specialized. Those who work in a beauty department may often have limited knowledge of products available in other departments. Thus, the ability of beauty sales persons to cross-sell clothing and accessory items is likely to be restricted. Yet, the information gained during the beauty product purchasing process could be very helpful in recommending clothing and accessory products well suited to the customer's lifestyle, and/or also complementary to recently acquired beauty products.